Breakdown Of The House HHS Appropriations Bill

Yep, it’s awful. They are funding $4 billion less than last year. $4 Billion.

The Republican majority of the House Appropriations Committee released their draft version of the FY2012 Labor-HHS-Education Appropriations bill with a budget that was $4 billion less than FY2011. There is no markup scheduled for this bill, thus members of the Subcommittee will not be able to weigh-in on the proposed bill. The funding levels contained in this bill will serve as the House marker when in conference negotiations on final spending levels with the Senate. As this is a draft bill, there is no report language, so some details on funding levels are not known. NASTAD has included an updated chart. (link is below)

The bill includes many policy riders, targeting funding for syringe exchange programs, the Affordable Care Act, and Planned Parenthood. The bill bans the use of federal funding for syringe exchange programs. The bill also includes language that prohibits funding for the implementation of the Affordable Care Act, including the elimination of the Prevention and Public Health Fund. In addition, Planned Parenthood and its affiliates can only receive funding after certifying that the organization will not perform abortions with non-federal funds.

Both the House and the Senate have voted on a continuing resolution that will fund government programs through November 18.

Some of the House draft bill highlights include:

Department of Health and Human Services:

Health Resources and Services Administration

Ryan White Program

The House bill flat funds all parts of the Ryan White Program, including ADAP. The Senate bill includes a $15 million increase to ADAP bringing the total to $900 million and it flat funds all other parts of the Ryan White Program.

Family Planning

The Title X Family Planning program was eliminated in the House bill. The program was flat funded at $299.4 million in the Senate version of the bill.

Community Health Centers

Community Health Centers received a decrease of $4.7 million from FY2011 in the House version of the bill. The Senate bill increased funding for Community Health Centers by $200 million from FY2011.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention:

Center for HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, STD, and TB

In the House bill, funding for the Center for HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, STD, and TB Prevention was reduced by $32.7 million. There is not detail about how these cuts will be divided among the Divisions or if DASH will be included in the Center.

The Senate bill level funds CDC’s HIV/AIDS and STD prevention programs, including HIV prevention by health departments, HIV surveillance, the Enhanced HIV Testing Initiative and Improving HIV Program Effectiveness Program. DASH was flat funded as well. The Division of Viral Hepatitis received an increase of $10 million for testing.

Needle Exchange

The House version of the bill bans the use of federal funds for syringe exchange programs, whereas the Senate version of the bill maintains current law on the use of federal funding for syringe exchange.

Immunization

The House bill does not provide detail about funding of the Section 317 Immunization Program. The program received a $50 million increase from FY2011 in the Senate bill.

Prevention Block Grant

The Preventative Health and Health Services Block Grant was funded at $100 million, a $19.1 million increase from FY2011 in the House version of the bill. The program was eliminated in the Senate version of the bill and the President’s budget proposal.

Prevention and Public Health Fund

In the House version of the bill, all funding for the Prevention and Public Health Fund was eliminated. In the Senate version of the bill, the Prevention and Public Health Fund received an increase of $135 million.

Agency for Children and Families

Teen Pregnancy Prevention Initiative

The House bill reduced funding for the Teen Pregnancy Prevention Initiative by $84.7 million to $20 million. In addition to this reduction, the House bill provides $20 million for the Community-Based Abstinence Education (CBAE) grant program, which was previously not funded and the bill removes language requiring the Teen Pregnancy Prevention Initiative programs to be evidence based.

The Senate bill level funds the Teen Pregnancy Prevention Initiative, maintains language requiring programs to be evidence based, and does not provide any funding for the CBAE program.

Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration

The House bill’s funding of SAMHSA is still being determined. In the Senate bill, SAMHSA Primary and Behavioral Health Care Integration was level funded at $63 million. The Senate Committee also encouraged SAMHSA to develop a demonstration project on hepatitis education and testing for patients and providers.

National Institutes of Health

NIH received an increase of $1 billion in the House bill, bringing their total funding to $31.7 billion. The House bill also eliminates the transfer of $297 million from the NIH to the Global HIV/AIDS Fund. The Senate decreased NIH by $190 million from FY2011 levels and requested a transfer of $299 million to the Global HIV/AIDS Fund.

Department of Housing and Urban Development:

Housing Opportunities for Persons With AIDS

The House Transportation, Housing and Urban Development Appropriations bill flat funds the HOPWA program, while the Senate bill reduces the HOPWA program by $4.3 million, for a total of $330 million.

State Department:

Global HIV/AIDS

The House State-Foreign Operations Appropriations bill provided $7.1 billion for global health programs, but does not specify a funding amount for the Global Fund to Fight HIV, TB and Malaria. The House Labor-HHS-Education Appropriations bill eliminated the $300 million transfer from NIH to the Global HIV/AIDS Fund.

The Senate State-Foreign Operations Appropriations bill provided $5.6 billion for global HIV/AIDS programs. The Global Fund to Fight HIV, TB and Malaria was flat funded at $750 million (and $299 million in the Senate Labor HHS bill) and Bilateral HIV/AIDS received $50 million less than FY2011.

FY2012 Appropriations Chart 10-6-11

Rehberg’s Ridiculous Healthcare Bill: Resurrecting Non-Science-Based Prevention Policies

Oct3 by D Gregory Smith

Rehberg’s apparently not swayed by the people in his state affected by HIV. Nor is he swayed by science.

From The AIDS Institute:

“If ever passed, this spending bill would set back the progress we are making in preventing HIV and providing basic care and treatment for those who have HIV/AIDS in our country,” commented Carl Schmid, Deputy Executive Director of The AIDS Institute.

House Labor, HHS, Education and Related Agencies Appropriations Subcommittee Chairman Denny Rehberg (R-MT) introduced a fiscal year 2012 spending bill that guts many programs, including health reform, and resurrects non-science based prevention policies.

Most disappointing is how the bill would impede prevention. Rehberg’s bill would cut by nearly $33 million funding for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) National Center for HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, STD, and TB Prevention. This is despite an estimated 50,000 new HIV infections each year and over 230,000 people unaware of their infection. The U.S. government invests only about 3 percent of its HIV funding in prevention. The lifetime cost of caring and treating one person with HIV is approximately $360,000. In order to help achieve the goals of the National HIV/AIDS Strategy to reduce the number of new infections and increase testing levels by 2015, the President has proposed an increase of $57 million for HIV prevention in FY12.

On top of cutting CDC’s budget, the bill would ban federal funding of syringe exchange programs, a scientifically proven method to prevent HIV and other infections while not increasing drug use, and would resurrect failed abstinence only until marriage programs. Additionally, the bill would decimate the Teen Pregnancy Prevention Program by cutting its budget from $105 million to $20 million, eliminate all Title X spending, which funds HIV testing programs for women, and the entire Prevention and Public Health Fund.

The House bill proposes to flat fund the entire Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program, which provides care and treatment to over 550,000 low-income people with HIV/AIDS. It fails to address the crisis in the Ryan White AIDS Drug Assistance Program (ADAP). There are currently over 8,500 people in nine states on ADAP waiting lists and over 445 people in six states who have been disenrolled from the program due to budget constraints and growing enrollment. The AIDS Institute and its partners have been advocating for an increase of at least $106 million. The President has requested a $55 million increase. In order to address the current wait list, an increase of approximately $98 million would be required.

Chairman Rehberg’s bill also prevents implementation of much of the Affordable Care Act, which once fully implemented, would both bring many people with HIV/AIDS into lifesaving care and treatment for the first time and help to prevent HIV.

The one bright spot in the bill is Rehberg’s proposal to increase medical research spending at the National Institutes of Health by $1 billion.

“While we realize we are living in very difficult fiscal times, this bill is not just about making difficult funding decisions, but about resurrecting many controversial policies that will never pass the Congress nor be signed by the President,” commented Michael Ruppal, Executive Director of The AIDS Institute. “As Congress finalizes its FY12 spending bill, The AIDS Institute will work with the House, Senate and the Administration to increase, rather than cut funding for prevention and adequately fund all parts of the Ryan White Program, including ADAP. Additionally, we will work to defeat all extreme policy riders.

The bill (HR 3070) has not been formally considered by the House Appropriations Subcommittee. The Senate Appropriations Committee already has passed its own version of the bill. Since Congress has not passed any spending measures, the government is currently operating under a short term continuing resolution.

This schmuck is completely unwilling to listen to facts- or to believe that HIV is in Montana, and it poses particular problems for his constituents. Maybe it’s time to educate him.

Call his office: (202) 225-3211